Lilac Hearts
by Anlora
Summary: A collection of one shots for the first ever Wentsu Week 2014 over at tumblr.
1. Dragons

So you should really check out the Wentsu tumblr and participate in Wentsu Week cause this pairing needs more love. Anyway these are going to be separate one shots except the last one which will have a lil surprise.

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Both Natsu and Gajeel were passed out on the train while Wendy chatted pleasantly with the exceeds. They were on their way to a distant town where a Dragon Festival was being celebrated. Mira had mentioned it at the guild and caught all three of the dragon slayers attentions, convincing them to head off there immediately. They hoped to find some clues as to what happened to their parents so long ago. The conversation drifted towards a very cat related subject, fish probably, and Wendy found herself staring out the window while dipping her fingers into a mane of soft hair. She didn't remember Carla having such long fur. A soft sigh led her eyes to her, lap finding Natsu's head laying on it. His expression was unusual, almost peaceful, as if sleeping, instead of the usual dizziness the train caused him. Gajeel on the other hand was groaning on the seat in front of them, clearly in discomfort. Both of them had refused her when she offered to cast Troia claiming they could handle a little transportation better than the other. They were always like that, trying to outdo each other in everything. The three of them have been going on more missions together as of late and she had grown accustomed to their fights.

Out the window Wendy finally spotted the town, Hillstone, appearing in the distance.

"We're almost there," she said to the exceeds. They proceeded to shake awake the two unconscious mages. After a solid minute of Happy slapping him with a fish in the face Gajeel sat up clutching his stomach, but Natsu was more persistent.

"Natsu-san time to wake up," the sky dragon slayer said softly nudging his shoulders while the blue exceed pulled on his vest.

"_Mffffun_," he grunted pushing Happy's head away.

"Carla help me lift up Natsu, a good scare will snap him out of it," Happy said.

"And why would you need my help? You can carry him just fine by your own," Carla replied, clearly annoyed.

"He's heavier when he's asleep," was his response. Carla sighed recognizing the uselessness of arguing and grabbed the fire dragon slayer by one arm while Happy grabbed the other. Before he knew it Natsu was up and out the train window, waving his arms around and yelling at Happy.

"We have to get after them before they get lost!" Wendy exclaimed grabbing at Gajeel and Pantherlily before rushing out of the train which was pulling into the station at that moment.

After frantically chasing them for a couple of minutes they finally found the trio at the middle of the festival next to a fabric salesperson. There were stands and booths at every corner. Some people were preforming on stages while others were in costume preparing for the parade. Wendy noticed how Natsu's eyes surveyed the various food stalls. He was just about to run off towards a hot dog vendor when Gajeel caught him by the neck of his shirt.

"Remember why we're here Salamander. We need to start asking around," the iron dragon slayer said gruffly.

"But if we split up we'll cover more ground," Natsu quickly replied, still eyeing the sausages. Gajeel still looked hesitant when Pantherlily spoke up.

"Natsu has a point Gajeel. We have no time to waste." Gajeel grunted and let go of him, turning towards Wendy.

"Go with him, I don't trust him by himself," he said, still looking at him sideways.

"Hey! I'm here too!" Happy protested crossing his small arms.

"Even worse. Let's meet back at the station at sunset," was all he said before walking away. Wendy watched him for a second in a bit of shock before turning back to Natsu who was now on what was apparently his third hot dog. She sighed before heading over to where he was enjoying his food, oblivious to anything else around him.

"Natsu-san, it's time to go do what we came here for." Natsu stuffed the last few bites into his mouth while trying to say something that got muffled by all of his chewing.

"We are never going to get anything done with these two on our tail, Wendy. We should split up, as Pantherlily suggested." Carla looked at the pair disapprovingly. Happy complained at that but Natsu remained oddly silent.

"Gajeel-san told us to stay together, so we will," Wendy told her small friend.

"You don't gotta baby-sit me Wendy. I want to find out about our dragons like the rest of you, I'll be good." Natsu's words were serious for a flashing moment before exclaiming that he would make anyone who had information cough it up by pummeling it out of them. That made Wendy sigh but a small smile couldn't help but creep on her lips. Natsu-san was always so motivated and pumped up that it was near impossible to stay annoyed at him for too long.

They started to walk around the festival, stopping here and there to ask people what they knew about dragons and to look at the vendors' tables. Most of them were filled with different crafts all dragon inspired. At some point Happy dragged Carla away to a fishing booth and had promised Wendy to bring her back safely to the station later. After an hour of walking and looking around they stopped at a kiosk that was selling dragon masks. A particular one caught Wendy's eye.

"This one reminds me of Grandine." It was white and fearful with fangs bearing, but the eyes were gentle, motherly even. She stared at the mask in silence for a while until Natsu spoke.

"Hey you," he called the vendor who was finishing up a sale with another customer. "This mask," he pointed at Wendy's hands, "do you know anything about this dragon?"

The vendor turned towards Natsu, an odd smile on her face. She looked over the both of them carefully before duking under the table and rummaging through things. Wendy and Natsu exchanged a confused look. They certainly stumbled across a crazy old lady, but Wendy had learned that crazy old people were very often the wisest people you could find. Finally she came back with another mask, this one fiery red and a vicious look to it. Natsu snatched it from her hands and stared at it intently.

"Igneel," he whispered, still entranced in the mask.

"These masks…," Wendy started but the woman held up a hand.

"I'm afraid I don't know much about your dragons," she said in a hoarse voice.

"How do you-" Natsu said before she cut him off again.

"Dragon slayers have a particular scent. You aren't the only ones to have a good sense of smell," she added when she saw the puzzled look on their faces.

"I suppose you have questions. Like I said I don't know much but I'd like to help. Why don't the both of you come back here and help me with the stand, I can't leave right in the middle of rush hour!"

Before they knew it Natsu was moving boxes around and Wendy was organizing and re-organizing the masks to the woman's very specific instructions. Their work however didn't interrupt the woman from talking to them.

"I've been having some interesting dreams since I was a young girl. Very odd and confusing most of them. For a couple of years now dragons have started showing up in them, lately more often. Most of these masks are modeled after them. They're a big hit every year at the festival, as you can see. Well the festival also attracts a certain type of person once in a while. Dragon slayers tend to be such youngsters; it breaks my heart to see them to stumble through alone, searching for answers."

"As I said I've had dreams, visions if you want to call them like that. There are a thousand different dragons, I seldom see the same one twice, but there are a couple that visit me very often. These are two of them. They speak to each other often, talking about two little humans."

"Do you… do you know who?" Wendy asked trying her best to keep tears at bay.

"Why indeed I do Wendy."

"Hey, we didn't tell you our names," Natsu exclaimed.

"It seems you haven't Natsu." He looked started and still kind of confused.

"It was us Natsu-san," Wendy said. "Igneel and Grandine are the ones in her visions. So that means," she grabbed the white mask which the woman had placed in a corner behind the table, "this is her." The woman nodded.

"Can we keep them?" Natsu asked in an uncharacteristically quiet voice. His sudden gentleness surprised Wendy and she saw that he looked like he was fighting back tears too.

"Of course," she said. It was quiet for a moment until the woman spoke up again.

"It's getting late. Maybe you should be heading off home." Wendy agreed.

"Thank you for all of your help," Wendy said with a bow.

"Yeah, thanks," Natsu said.

"It's no problem dears. Just remember to stay together; you're going to need each other if you plan on solving this mystery. Oh and take this to your steel friend." She pulled out a black and metal looking mask and handed it to them. Wendy's eyes widened at that face. It looked angry and quite familiar.

"Um it's actually iron," Wendy said taking the mask.

"Really? Hmmm, it all looks the same in dreams I suppose," said the woman. "Well run off now, you wouldn't want to miss your train."

They waved at the woman as they walked away towards the station, masks in hand and deep in thought.

"Do you believe her?" Wendy asked.

"Of course," Natsu answered. "We've just gotta keep searching, they're counting on us."

"Counting on us for what Natsu- San? Why did they leave us in the first place instead of helping us?" She clutched the small fist holding the mask. "Why did they leave?" Her voice cracked with those last words.

Natsu stopped walking and faced Wendy, placing both hands on her shoulders. "I don't know, but they must have had a good reason. They didn't abandon us. You gotta believe that." He smiled at her, but not his usual mischievous smile. It was small and sad, but didn't last long. "Now let's go! We gotta get ready for battle!"

He grabbed her hand and started running through the crowd. Wendy shrieked in surprised and tried to keep pace with him. "What battle?" she asked yelling over the sound of the crowd and the wind.

"No idea!" he yelled back. "But we're gonna win, cause we have each other. Just like the old lady said!"

He was right Wendy decided. She didn't know what lay ahead of them but as long as they were together they would succeed in facing it.


	2. Hug

**I'm soo sorry for not being able to put this up yesterday but it was kind of a long day for me and was unable to finish this chapter which is the one that needed most work I think. But hey, at least you get two chapters today! Also I'd like to thank all the nice reviews and the support I've recieved for Wentsu Week. I'd like to encourage everyone to participate cause hey its a lot of fun. For more Wentsu Week goodness you should check out** **Wentsu Week: First-gen Dragon Slayer Love by NinNinKaki****zaki2014 and head over to the Wentsu blog. **

**ALSO VERY IMPORTANT. This is set in the current manga arc sort of like an alternate ending so if you're still reading/plan on reading it you might want to think about it, although I tried to keep spoilery things to a bare minimum so if you haven't read it and don't plan to it should still be pretty easy to understand. **

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The magic council had just arrived and was putting all of the Tartaros members into special curse binding cages. It seemed like they received them as an anonymous gift from someone, but all of Fairy Tail knew it had been Jellal. After helping to defeat the dark guild he had disappeared once again, Natsu knew because of the sad look on Erza's face. Despite that she was walking around the medical tent the guild and the council had set up to tend to their injured making sure everyone was safe and comfortable.

After reassuring Mira that he was in great condition he went off to walk through the rows of his injured nakama. Part of him was angry at Tartaros for all of the pain they had caused his friends but he was also proud of them for having fought through it all so bravely, as Fairy Tail mages should. He scanned the area and saw that most of his team had made it through ok, but there was still someone he couldn't locate.

"Where's Wendy?" Natsu asked Lucy who had just finished being patched up.

"I don't know, I haven't seen her since she went to stop FACE," she answered starting to look around in worry.

"Carla isn't her either," Happy added in a gloomy tone.

The three of them set off to search for the two missing members of their team calling out their names every once in a while but to no avail. At one point Erza and Gray noticed too and joined in scanning the whole temporary camp.

Within half an hour the whole guild was doing their best to find Wendy and Carla, but they were nowhere to be found. Soon people started to fear the worse saying things like 'kidnapped', 'gone' and once even 'dead' Natsu overheard. He clenched his fists tightly at that to contain himself from sucker punching that idiot in the gut. Guilt wouldn't let him do it though. This feeling was all too familiar.

He remembered when Elfman told him what had happened to Lisanna, that horrible feeling where everything just collapsed on his insides. He had promised Lisanna when they were kids that he would protect her and even though it wasn't his fault he still felt partly responsible. Out of sheer luck she came back somehow and he was really thankful for that but from time to time he still gets that feeling again.

Right now that feeling was creeping up on him. He had promised Wendy that everything would be fine, that she would be at home at Fairy Tail, and that Fairy Tail wizards never let anything happen to their friends. As the minutes passed the feeling of dread kept growing, making him walk faster and faster until he was running frantically searching in the most impossible of places. Lucy was trying to calm him down when they heard Mira's voice from the other side of the tents.

"We found her!" Natsu and his team hurried over towards that direction to find Doranbolt carrying both the small dragon slayer and her exceed companion. When she saw her team her face lit up in a smile which quickly turned into a grimace of pain. She motioned for Doranbolt to put her down and refused help from everyone except Carla. Wendy was practically carried by Carla when they finally met with the others. Lucy and Erza hurried to help them.

"What happened to you?!" Lucy exclaimed worried, looking over her wounds.

"One of the demons was protecting Face. I didn't have any time to waste." The words were just barely a whisper but it was so quiet that no one struggled to hear her.

"What do you mean, what did you do?"Erza asked gravely, helping the girl steady herself.

"Etherion. It was in the air. I thought I could eat it and use Dragon Force like Natsu-san did," she said.

Everyone looked from Wendy to Natsu back to her again. He couldn't believe that Wendy, such a careful, gentle girl could do something so reckless like him. But at soon as he caught a glimpse of her guild mark covered in bruises and dirt he remembered that despite her age she was a Fairy Tail wizard and a dragon slayer just like him. Lucy was insisting she sit and rest but she refused, walking a few steps towards Natsu, a huge grin on her face.

"Thank you Natsu-san, for your courage," she said nothing but gratitude and admiration in her face.

Pride surged through him and he couldn't help but rush towards her and hug her as fiercely as she hugged him that first time so many years ago. She even felt different in his arms. She hadn't grown much in size but her strength and courage had done nothing but since their first encounter. HE had vowed to protect his nakama, to protect her, but it was her that had protected him more times than he could count. He had grown to admire her as much as every other great wizard he had encountered through the years. He would look forward to fighting the sky sorceress as she grew into a crazy powerful mage.

"No. Thank you Wendy," he said the biggest of smiles on his face as a warm fuzzy feeling calmed him.


	3. Elements

Their enemy lay knocked out on the ground before them, everyone staring and basking in the after victory glow. Everyone except for Natsu, which was very odd because he was usually the first to celebrate a good beating. He couldn't keep his eyes off the sky dragon slayer. Moments before they had performed a unison raid to finish off their opponent and he didn't think he'd ever experienced anything like it. He'd had experiences with Wendy's healing magic and support magic but her attack magic was something way different. The way his fire magnified through her air was incredible. It gave his flames new life and intensity and propelled it forward at a speed he'd never been able to reach on his own. The other guy didn't have time to realize what was happening before he got sprawled on the floor. Everyone else was still cheering when Lucy said they should go pick up their reward mentioning something about overdue rent.

"I'm glad you three didn't destroy anything so we get to keep the whole reward!" The celestial mage said walking towards the town, Loke behind her carrying their unconscious pay day. It turned out that Wendy's gusts also controlled Natsu's flames so they wouldn't destroy anything that they didn't want destroyed.

"It seems that ever since the young sky maiden joined the team damage to private property has become considerably less." Loke noted pushing up his glasses with his free hand.

"Yea it's been great to have someone who isn't a destroying machine on the team," Lucy said glaring at Gray, Erza and Natsu.

"Oi, we get the job done don't we?" Gray protested, but he still ruffled Wendy's hair in affection. That got quite a blush out of the blue haired girl because he was no in only his underwear. Erza glared at him before commenting.

"Wendy you're a great mage and it has been a joy to have you on our team."

The young girl was all smiles and blushes, trying to brush off their complements. After a couple of threats from Lucy backed up by an arrangement of celestial spirits they all continued down the path. The team began to slip into their usual after job conversations as the two dragon slayers trailed behind with their exceeds, at least until Happy spotted a flying fish and dragged Carla with him to catch it.

Natsu thought he should tell Wendy that she did good in the battle like everyone else did but he didn't know how to put into words what exactly she had done. After a few minutes in silence she spoke up.

"You've been awfully quiet Natsu-san. Did you get hurt?" she stopped and turned to examine him. "You should let me heal you before we continue."

"Nah, I'm ok. It's just…" he found himself blushing at her closeness.

She was almost eye level with him now. He forgot how long they have been a team now. They had all seen Wendy grow up from a shy little girl to a full-fledged dragon slayer. Now at 18 she could go toe to toe with even Erza, not that she would enjoy fighting her friends. It was still a wonder how someone with such fearsome and potentially destructive magic could stay so gentle.

"Just what?" Wendy said, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"You're amazing," he blurted out causing her to blush deeper than she had before. "The way you blew away that guy was really cool."

"Oh no, it was mostly you who did that. I just used my support magic," she said starting to walk again.

"Of course not!" Natsu protested catching up with her. "You saw how our dragon fists formed that unison raid. I've never felt anything like that!"

"It was a very powerful unison raid, wasn't it? I thought that your flames would overpower my gusts. You always go so all out it's hard to believe I didn't get burned."

"I'm always shooting everywhere. It was your tornado that helped concentrate the hit," he said enthusiastically. "Besides, you're a dragon too, fire can't hurt you." The sky maiden looked back at him, his large grin making her smile too.

"I guess you're right. Who would have thought air and fire would make such a great team?" she said.

Of course they did, fire can't breathe without air.


	4. Innocence

**Everything is just conspiring for me to not update on schedule. The internet fell down for a couple of hours last night which just stresses me out even more during finals season. Anyway, here's day 4!**

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It was a bright and happy morning at Fairy Hills Wendy noticed as she entered the common living area. There Levy was reading quietly in a corner while Erza enjoyed her morning slice of strawberry cake. It was also oddly quiet. At that hour there was usually an extra blue haired mage chatting about with them.

"Good morning everyone," Wendy greeted. "Is Juvia-san still asleep?"

The atmosphere in the room tensed up as Erza and Levy shared a nervous look. Wendy looked from one mage to the other hoping for an explanation until Erza finally spoke up.

"She's…out."

"So early? She's always here in the mornings." She placed her hand on her chin thinking for a moment. "Now that you mention it I don't remember seeing her come in last night either. And she just came back from a job. Do you think she's ok?" Wendy began to pace the room, worry setting in.

"I'm sure she's fine, we'll probably see her at the guild later," Levy reassured her.

"Oh, I'm sure she's _fantastic_," a voice said from behind Wendy. "If you catch my drift," Cana came into the room, still in her sleeping shirt and a cup of coffee in her hand.

"Cana…" Erza started, looking at the hung over mage sternly.

"Awe, come on Erza! She's not a little girl anymore. I say 17 is half past time her knowing about Miss Lockster's nocturnal activities."

Levy was hiding her blush behind a book and Erza looked like she wanted to argue but quickly restrained herself. "I suppose you're right," said the knight.

Cana eyed her with suspicion and a hint of surprise. "Not every day I hear that from you."

"Is anyone going to tell me what's going on?" Wendy asked starting to get impatient with the older mages' discreet nudges and secret looks. That always happened from time to time and it frustrated her immensely being kept out of the loop.

"You see Wendy, you were right. Juvia didn't come home last night, she spent the night at Gray's," Cana said.

"She spent the- Oh." Realization washed over her as blood rushed to her face. She was completely mortified that it hadn't come to her sooner. Cana was right, she wasn't a little girl anymore and Juvia and Gray had been together for some time now. It was to be expected. Cana was still snickering until she got a not so playful punch to the shoulder by Erza.

"Don't worry Wendy. Not everyone is as dirty minded as Cana." Levy had left her seat behind and gave Cana a slap on the other arm with her book.

"Levy is right. Your innocence is something that you have to keep a hold on for as long as possible. It adds an extra layer of hope and joy to life," Erza said ever the wise one.

"Yeah kid," Cana said rubbing the forming bruises on her arms. "It's that purity that keeps a smile on all of our faces."

Their reassurances helped compose herself enough to speak.

"I should go; Natsu is probably waiting for me outside." She smiled as best as she could, turning to exit the room as quickly and as possible without being rude.

Natsu was at the gate waving enthusiastically at her. She waved back trying to distance her mind from the conversation that she'd just left. When she had almost reached him Gray and Juvia turned the corner and appeared at the front gates. She could feel the blush rising back to her cheeks but was quickly able to get it under control. Natsu seemed to notice her discomfort because he looked around him confused, finally seeing the couple walking up the path.

"Oi, whatcha doin here so early droopy eyes? Trying to freak out my girlfriend with your exhibitionist crap?" Natsu was in Gray's face now, ready for another one of their rumbles.

"I could ask you the same thing flame breath," Gray countered.

"Gray-sama is accompanying Juvia back home," the water mage said, grabbing Gray's arm. This made him blush and back off from Natsu.

"Yeah well, I couldn't just let you do the walk of shame," he said avoiding her eyes at all costs.

"Walk of shame?" Natsu asked in genuine curiosity. Gray and Juvia's faces turned bright crimson at his question.

"You seriously can't be that stupid," Gray said, disbelief plainly written on his face. Natsu's face however did not change.

"Juvia thinks Natsu-san is serious," she said, looking at the dragon slayer carefully. "Juvia is going to change now, Gray-sama can wait on the steps, she will be quick."

That seemed to appease Gray because he went along with her, still looking somewhat flustered. "Sure take your time." After they were out of earshot Natsu turned to Wendy.

"What's their deal?" he asked. Wendy struggled to find the words to explain it to him. Most people, sometimes even her, wondered if Natsu was stupid or just naive. The way he charges into battle not thinking whether he's going to survive it suggests a special kind of innocence. It was one of the reasons she liked him so much, despite being some years older they could relate to a lot of things.

"Juvia-chan and Gray-san had a sleepover last night," she said finally. Natsu looked surprised.

"That all?" Well they should have invited the rest of us! It's no party with just two," he said smiling and taking a hold of her hand, walking down the path. For a moment she considered correcting him but that sweet smile wouldn't let her. Erza was right, innocence is bliss.


	5. Flight

A/N: Firstly I'd like to apologize for the super duper late uploads, but I promise I will do my very best so that they will come in the next few days. I had some family issues, topped with the end of semester stuff and getting everything for my trip in the summer so it was really difficult to sit down and actually put caring and effort into what I was writing. Also someone remind me to NEVER do Wentsu Week again right dead in the middle of finals season, like really what was I thinking?!

So on to the story!

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"Surprise!" Mira exclaimed opening the back doors of the guild to reveal the lawn covered in hot-air balloons. Everyone in the guild cheered and started running towards the baskets climbing aboard. The dragon slayers however, stayed at the threshold hesitant to get on the hot aired transportation death trap. A few balloons were already in the air when Levy approached them.

"Aren't you four getting on?" she asked more to Gajeel than everyone else.

"No way in hell,"Laxus said walking bath inside.

"Well how about you Gajeel? Let's go!" Levy grabbed him by the arm and tried to pull him towards the field, his body not moving an inch.

"Not going to happen," he said crossing his arms.

"Too bad, I guess I'll just get in with Jet and Droy. I Hope it can get off the ground though."She began to walk away but a large hand stopped her.

"I'm not gonna let you to be hundreds of feet in the air alone with those two fools" he said before looking smugly at Natsu and adding "Besides what's a little aerial transport?" They both went off to find the basket that was now starting to take off, leaving Natsu and Wendy alone.

Natsu was about to retort Gajeel's look with some complicated threat but they were already gone by the time he realized his remark was directed at him. Wendy noticed and chuckled under her breath, always amused at her fellow dragon slayers antics.

"That bastard is going to regret it," Natsu said.

"I don't think so, he always does crazy things for Levy-chan" she said looking after them. Gajeel was gruff and kind of scary but he always made Levy very happy. Wendy hoped that someday she would fined someone like that. As if on cue she felt a gaze on her accompanied by an uncharacteristic silence.

"Why don't you get on Wendy? I thought you didn't get sick." Natsu had his thinking face on, which would explain the sudden quiet.

"I've been feeling dizzy since my last birthday." She had turned 15 a couple of weeks ago and it brought some unwelcome surprises. "Why don't you go? I can't cast Troia on myself but I can on you. Go find Lisana-chan, I'm sure she'll say yes."

"It wouldn't be fair to leave you here alone. And Lisanna is over there with Laxus." Wendy could hear the slightest bit of resentment in his last few words. It was no secret that Lisanna and Natsu had once had an extremely close relationship in the past, but since her return things didn't seem to fall back into place. It had become a popular topic at the guild with constant debates about who feels what for who. Wendy didn't know Lisanna in the past but the way Natsu looked at her when she wasn't paying attention did incite small sparks jealousy in the young girl. But it seemed that Natsu didn't even notice it.

Wendy looked at where he was pointing and saw that he was right. Somehow Laxus had gotten through there without them noticing and was pulling on some ropes trying to get off the ground as Lisanna sat watching on the edge of the basket.

Soon Balloons began to fill the air and she couldn't help but stare in awe. The sky was spotted with an array of colors and patterns that seemed like some sort of mismatched rainbow. Shouts of glee and laughter were abundant, as well as a couple of taunts and even a fist or two.

"That one kinda reminds me of Igneel," Natsu said pointing at a large red and orange balloon still on the ground. "He used to take me flying over all sort of cities."

Wendy could sympathize. "I remember flying on Grandine too. It made me feel big because from the sky everything looks so tiny." She said smiling sadly.

"Let's go," Natsu said before grabbing her arm and running in the direction of the balloon. She tried to wriggle free but he had caught her by surprise.

"Natsu-san! Are you crazy? We'll get sick" she shouted trying to grab his attention.

"Not if we imagine the balloon as Igneel and Grandine!"was his only reply. It was a completely absurd answer but she knew there was no changing his mind so she just went along with it. They arrived at the balloon Natsu had pointed out earlier and climbed aboard. The basket was smaller than expected and was becoming even more cramped as the balloon began to deflate on top of them.

"It looks like the burner is broken," Wendy said pointing up at the device. Natsu looked at it for a second before telling her to stand back. Flames erupted from his mouth and Wendy felt the ground under her move and made a quick grab for the edges of the basket.

Behind her she could hear Natsu huffing and puffing as she saw everything begin to shrink beneath them.

"We're moving! We're actually flying!" Wendy exclaimed giddy. She turned to look at Natsu and saw that he was no longer propelling them upwards with his fiery breath but on the floor propped up against the wall clutching his stomach. On instinct she rushed to him ready to preform her magic when the sickness got her in the stomach hard, practically knocking her out.

They were both now half-sitting half-lying next to each other doubled over in pain. Wendy's head was spinning, her vision blurred and had terrible cramps. Her Erza and Lucy had given her some "lady talks" lately where they explained that when girls grow up they get awful cramps every months and bled a lot. It had frightened her a bit but she didn't think the cramps would be _this _bad. It took every ounce of her strength to focus her sight on Natsu who was starring at the slowly deflating balloon above them.

"I guess this wasn't such a good idea," she said through holding back retches. "At least we still have some air left so we should go down slowly."

"Nah, It was still a great idea," Natsu insisted.

"Why do you think so?"

"Well cause I got to make you smile," he said evidently making an effort to smile. She could feel her face redden and buried her head in his shoulder to hide it.

Natsu didn't make another sound but laid his head on top of hers and for a split second all of the knots in her stomach undid themselves and transformed into butterflies.


	6. Protect

So about a million years and problems later I actually finished this chapter. I have the last one written up somewhere, I just need to find it and type it up. And after that one well, there's a little something extra that I won't spoil cause I'm still half debating it. Anyway, hope you like it!

The water came pouring down so hard that for a second Wendy wondered if Gray had done something to upset Juvia badly. Valentines Day always made the water mage extra sensitive, especially when Gray was so forgetful about things like that. Thankfully Carla, careful and worried as ever, had made her bring an umbrella when she told the exceed about going to the store. Wendy had invited her to come along but she was feeling tired and decided to stay in.

Trying to not drop any of the bags in her hands she managed to open the small striped umbrella and braced herself for the deluge. The front of shops were littered with people seeking cover from the rain while little kids splashed around in puddles. The roads were mostly empty except for people running for cover and the occasional person who had been lucky enough to bring an umbrella.

She continued plowing her way towards the guild, avoiding as many puddles as possible, when she slipped on one of them and fell face first onto the stone sidewalk. A grown woman of 18 and she still found herself tripping at the most inopportune of moments. After gathering her things she got up and saw that one of her packages, a small wrapped one, had landed farther away under a picnic table next to a small cafe.

Making her way towards it she noticed that there was someone seeking refuge under the table. They were huddled and she couldn't see their face so she poked the body with her finger.

"This is taken, find your own!" said an unmistakable voice.

"Natsu! What are you doing down there?" Wendy exclaimed taking a seat on one of the benches.

"Wendy?" The fire mage adjusted his position so he was now squatting and facing her. He was soaking wet, his usually spiky pink hair now covering his eyes. It was a strange look for him, but still kind of cute Wendy thought. "Whatcha doin' around here? I thought you'd be at the guild with everyone else by now."

"I had to run and pick up some gifts I left wrapping, one of which is being squashed by your foot." Her finger was pointing at the ground but almost touching his face due to the lack of space under the table.

Natsu stared from her to her finger to the gift at his feet. It was pretty squashed and dirty so he tried to fix it a bit before returning it to her.

"I'm sorry I ruined it." His eyes avoided hers, causing her to giggle.

"I'm not angry, it was your gift after all. You should be mad at yourself." She handed it back to Natsu, who was now pouting.

"Well you could of told me that before!" She only chuckled as he ripped off the wrapping that he had fixed so carefully a few moments ago. His expression turned quickly from excitement to confusion as he pulled out a small circular orb out of the box.

"Whats this thing? Some sort of weapon?" he said rolling it around in his hands.

"Don't be silly Natsu," she said pulling out an identical orb out of her pocket. She closed her fist around it, and pressed it against her chest.

The transparent orb in his hands started glowing a soft purple color and Natsu's eyes widened in wonder.

"It's a companion orb," she started to explain. "They're connected so each person has one and they glow different colors depending on what the other person feels. You press it to your chest and they both glow. Green is for happy, blue for sad, pink for love and so on."

Natsu finally looked away from the now fading purple orb to focus on Wendy. "How 'bout purple?"

"Purple means together." She pressed his hand, with the orb in it, towards his chest as she position hers back as well. Both orbs started glowing again, but this time bright enough for the light to shine between the cracks in their fingers. Warmth began to surround them under the table shielding them from the cold wetness around them.

"Whenever we're close to each other and hold them like this an aura of sorts covers us. As long as we stay like this we're protected. It's a minor shield of course but I thought you would like it anyway."

The warmth around her intensified as Natsu leaned over to place a soft kiss on her cheek. For a fire mage he was much more gentle than you would think and despite being with him for some time now, it never ceased to surprise her.

"My present sure looks dumb next to yours. It's back at the guild, we can go get it if you want. You have an umbrella right?" he reached for it but her lips on his stopped him.

"Let's stay here for a while. It's nice here." She cuddled up on him as comfortably as possible under a cramped picnic table. He had the goofiest smile when she looked up at him.

"'Kay," was his reply as he wrapped his arms around her. Within his arms and the glow around them she couldn't have felt more protected and safe.


	7. AUCrossover

**A/N: The final chapter for 2014 Wentsu Week! FINALLY! Ok so a bit of info, this is an Avatar: The Last Airbender/Legend of Korra AU and I bet you can guess the general line where this is going.**

**So I did mention before that with the last chapter there would be a bit of a surprise. Well while thinking about this chapter I kind of fell in love with this idea and decided that it would be great for my next multi-chaptered fic. So I just decided, 'hey let's just run with it!' I don't know how long it will run for because I have some ideas I want to explore and I would really like to not rush to what I kinda think I want the end to be. **

**This chapter will be a sort of prologue and I will post the first chapter as a separate fic hopefully by next week once I finish reviewing it. So if you want to be updated to that subscribe to me or check my tumblr periodically (link in my bio) as I will probably post updates on there too. But for now I leave you with Chapter 7 of Lilac Hearts: the prologue of what is to be Dragon Masters!**

* * *

It was a quiet morning in Chang's Tea house. The quiet made Natsu nervous. He and Happy were having an early lunch with some fiery whiskey tea while asking himself when his master was coming back. He had been gone for two and a half weeks which was beginning to worry him and Happy, it was only going to be a couple of days he had told them. Normally he would charge head first after him but the village was under strict orders to not let him out. Plus the threat of an all vegetarian air nomad meal if a single person was hurt in his escape, and an angry Mystogan is not something he was prepared to deal with again. He continued eating his mean in the uneasy silence until the small blue spirit spoke.

"They're looking at us funny Natsu," Happy said pointing towards a pair of old men and a little kid standing next to their table. When Natsu met their gaze they quickly looked away. The few occupied tables started to chatter and a crowd could be heard outside.

"Oi, what are all you talking about?"Natsu demanded from the murmuring room. Everyone was looking at him now, but no one spoke up until the kid from the old guy's table went over to him and pulled him from the arm. She led him out the door ignoring his questions about where they were going.

"You should go home, they will be waiting for you there." She stopped bowed at him once they were halfway across the road. "And good luck," she added with before disappearing through the crowd.

"That was odd," Happy said scratching his small head.

"Guess we better go, lil Ting is no liar," he said heading home. There sitting at the table was his master with an old woman dressed in white and blue robes with flower symbols.

"Mystogan, you're back!" Natsu exclaimed excitedly rushing into the house.

"Natsu please, we have a guest," Mystogan said sternly but a smile quickly appeared on his face.

"Oh yeah, sorry. Hi, what's up?" he asked grinning ear to ear at the woman.

Mystogan scrambled to apologize. "Please excuse his manners Saki, that's one part of him I've never been able to tame."

The woman chuckled. "Please don't worry. He's an enthusiastic young man. He's going to need that."

"Whatdaya mean?" Natsu asked stuffing several of the cookies that had been on the table into his mouth.

Mystogan became very serious looking at Natsu firmly in the eyes. "Sit down Natsu, there's something important we need to tell you."

"I've been siting down for like three weeks and I'm tired of waiting. Just tell me!"

"Very well," Mystogan said. "Do you remember when I first took you in? You had a couple of favorite toys that you chose."  
"Yeah, I remember you took them away from me. What do toys have to do with anything?"

"Please let me Mystogan," Saki said. "Natsu I'm told you're a very prodigious firebender and I can sense your spirited attitude. You're very protective also, I see how caring you are with that little blue spirit of yours."

"Well Happy's my friend, of course I protect him."

"That's good to hear. You've got a good heart Natsu. A good Avatar needs that."

He didn't react at first. Quiet reigned the room as Natsu sat down at the table, hand on his chin. Mystogan and Saki didn't interrupt him, being told you were the Avatar wasn't exactly pleasant morning chitchat and it was using up most of his brainpower processing this. Finally he spoke up. "SO you're saying I can bend all four elements?" he asked.

Mystogan looked puzzled but gave him a positive reply.

"Awesome!" he exclaimed thrusting both of his fists in the air. "C'mon Happy lets go tell everyone!" They got up and ran out of the house, Natsu already hollering at people the news.

"So we'll have to find him an airbending master quickly. DO you have anyone in mind?"

He gave a deep sigh looking after Natsu. "As a matter of fact I do. I've already sent a letter. I'm sure she'll do an excellent job."

* * *

"There's a letter for you Wendy," said the catlike white spirit walking over to the airbender sitting under the tree who let out a sigh and opened her eyes.

"Meditation isn't supposed to be interrupted Carla," said Wendy.

"I thought you'd want to read this now, considering the sender,"Carla said handing her the scroll.

"Mystogan! We haven't heard from him in so long. I hope everything's all right."

"There's nothing to worry about. For now anyway."

Wendy looked up from the paper to Carla.

"You read it didn't you?" she asked.

"Must I remind you that he just left you here to fend for yourself?" was her indignant reply.

"I wasn't by myself, the air acolytes made sure to take good care of me, you know he had no other choice."

"Hmph. I still have my reservations about him, and it's understandable." Wendy exhaled deeply. Carla was always so overprotective but it was only because she cared, so staying irritated at her was impossible. Her eyes went back to the familiar, heavy handed print in her hands.

_'Hello Wendy, _

_I know it has been a long time since my last letter and I hope you can forgive that the motive behind this one is business instead of pleasure. For some years now I have taken in a rather unruly firebender in need of a home. He was quite a handful but a very gifted young man I could tell, much like you Wendy. You see, he just turned 16 and will shortly be informed that he is the Avatar. I do not know how he will take the news, but I do know that he will soon me in need of an airbending master, and I couldn't think of anyone better suited for the task than you. I hope this isn't asking for too much on such short notice but hopefully he should be on his way towards you within a couple of weeks. I was thinking you two could meet up at Fairy Tail, I think he will like it there._

_I hope for a quick and positive reply. Unfortunately I will be busy for the next months but I hope to make time and visit the Western Air temple soon. Oh, and I will be sending a small gift with Natsu, I do hope you enjoy it. _

_With Care, Mystogan.'_

She hadn't noticed that tears were beginning to build up in her eyes. She blinked them away quickly and put the letter away.

"Carla, tell Chelia to round up a couple of acolytes and prepare the temple for a special guest." Her airbender master calm had returned over her as she stood and began to walk towards the temple. Carla flew after her in silence, which was odd for her. They finally reached Wendy's room, simple and tidy, and she began to rummage through her drawers, pulling out clothes and travel necessities.

"Do you think this is a good idea Wendy? I mean it is a lot of responsibility and you have the temple to take care of. Plus I don't know if an unruly firebender is the best person to have around this antique and might I say quite fragile temple."

Wendy stopped packing and walked over to Carla at the doorway and crouched to face her. "Carla I know you worry about me and I know it's because you care, and I appreciate it, but this is something I have to do. You know there's a lot of unanswered questions from my past that bother me and I have a feeling that this firebending Avatar might help lead me to some answers. And I can't just say no to training the Avatar! That's just silly." She resumed her packing making sure to only pack the bare essentials.

"Oh, and make sure to leave Chelia with a detailed list of the temple's care, you're usually the one who keeps track of everything and I don't want things to fall apart while we're gone."

The small spirit flies over to her, concern on her features. "I'd really feel more comfortable watching over things here, Chelia can be a bit...clumsy at times."

"So can I, but I trust her entirely. Besides, you didn't think I'd actually go all the way to Magnolia without you?"

Carla sighed in slightly fake resignation. "Very well, I'll make the arrangements."

Wendy smiled and pet Carla on the head briefly, which she would never admit she liked. "I'm glad. Everyone is going to be so happy and surprised!" she said giddily.

"Ah yes, I'm sure those Fairy Tail ruffians will be ecstatic."


End file.
